The Colossus of Maroussi

The Colossus of Maroussi

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96  ·  rating details  ·  1,227 ratings  ·  102 reviews
The Colossus of Maroussi is an impressionist travelogue by Henry Miller, written in 1939 and first published in 1941 by Colt Press of San Francisco. As an impoverished writer in need of rejuvenation, Miller travelled to Greece at the invitation of his friend, the writer Lawrence Durrell. The text is inspired by the events that occurred. The text is ostensibly a portrait of...more
Paperback, 244 pages
Published January 17th 1975 by New Directions (first published 1941)
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Phil
This beautiful and nearly flawless travel memoir is marred by this unfortunate sentence on page 121: "On the way to the library, I made kaka in my pants." Wha? Here's this fabulous surreal narrative about Greece, and suddenly the narrator doesn't just shit himself, he "makes kaka?" Skip page 121.
Loran
Apr 02, 2007 Loran rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Nick, but he's already read it.
Miller finally departs from his shock-therapy style of incorporating the obscene in order to leap from the earth, but in no way does this diminish his poise, as he frolicks for a year in Greece with Lawrence Durrell. This work is as fanciful and full of poppycock as any other great piece by the man whose work I love so dearly I had some of it tatooed on my belly... but here the often under-praised sooth-sayer concerns himself essentially with human happiness and the folly of self-imposed sufferi...more
Henry Martin
When he was not tackling sex and philosophy, Henry Miller traveled. The Colossus of Maroussi is a book of those later times, when he, an "American Savage", entered the world of peace, beauty, and most of all, simplicity he was longing for while living in America. Nothing could prepare him for what he encountered in Greece, not the streets of New York, nor the streets of Paris. Although enamored with France, Miller's passion for Europe goes way further in this book, which at times reads more like...more
Rick Skwiot
Some critics call "The Colossus of Maroussi"--Henry Miller`s account of his trip to Greece on the eve of World War II--the greatest travel book ever. But, like all great travel books, it's much more than mere depiction of beautiful landscapes, missed connections, bad weather, and surly waiters--though Miller recounts those as well. Rather, the book stands as a compelling paean to the Greek spirit, to liberty, and to life--as well as a barbaric yawp prefiguring the coming cataclysm.

The Canadian c...more
Shayda
May 04, 2013 Shayda rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mystics, transcendentalists
Coming to this after reading Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West, what I notice most, oddly enough, is the lack of history. Whereas West built a big book out of her study of then-Yugoslavia, incorporating a lot of local and national history going back to the Byzantine era, Miller just goes to Greece, admitting that he knows very little about it and that he doesn't know much about Homer, either. What you get therefore are sun-drenched landscapes, noodling epip...more
Ametista
"Fu un viaggio nella luce. La terra era illuminata dalla propria luce interna. A Micene ho camminato sui morti incandescenti; a Epidauro ho sentito un silenzio così intenso che per una frazione di secondo ho udito battere il grande cuore del mondo e ho compreso il significato del dolore e della sofferenza; a Tirinto sono rimasto nell'ombra dell'uomo ciclopico e ho sentito la vampa dell'occhio interiore che ora è diventato una ghiandola malaticcia; ad Argo tutta la pianura era una nebbia infuocat...more
Michael sinkofcabbages
the greatest travel book ever written?? O.K, Invisible Cites is probably number one. But this is a close second. I know many people are not really into miller. He can get kind of tiring if read one after the other. But even if you dont care for Miller; you really should try this one. Those over-the-top rants he always has in his books are truely inspiring when applied to traveling. To see someone so in love with the spirit of a place is such a wonderful thing. But this is not one of those Miller...more
Owen
Henry Miller's reputation as a writer needs little verification from the likes of me. Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to be able to confirm the abilities of a truly great author. This example of his work is in some ways a peculiar one since it was written during a turning point in modern history, namely the Second World War, and was inevitably a turning point in Miller's own life as well.

Henry Miller has not always had kind things to say about his native U. S. A. Here, in "The Colossus of Marouss...more
Babis
This was the worst book I have read in months. Incoherent, the style disgusting, raving endlessly about everything and nothing at all. I had to skip pages all the time, there is no other way to read this book. I have heard he was quite a helpless writer and a pornographer, but I could not guess how really bad he actually is: he is unreadable.

As for Katsimbalis and his gang (the 30s generation) you won't get to learn a lot about them from this book - it simply does not deliver the goods. Very...more
John David
On the recommendation of his friend and fellow author Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller set out for Greece in 1939. After a decade of frenzied writing in which both “Tropic of Cancer “and “Tropic of Capricorn” were composed, Miller’s intention was really nothing more than to relax in preparation for a journey to Tibet in which he planned to, in a popular phrase Miller himself would have despised, “find himself.”

“Colossus of Maroussi” is pure prosopography, which isn’t of course to say that he does...more
Kim
I really thought Henry Miller was incredibly shallow in his views of other people! The writing itself is good, but the book does not inspire me to think much of Mr. Miller as a fellow human being.
Liza Bolitzer
I always think that i will like travel books when i return from traveling, but that has never been the case, especially when they are written by self centered wankers like Henry Miller.
Cj Lesueur
A beautiful book, but it is not Miller's best, despite what some claim. It has some nice passages about Greece and the nobility of the human spirit etc. etc., but it lacks that feverish, almost mad, love of life that is rampant through out Miller's other works. It lacks that fire that ignites the read, engulfs them, in Miller's passion for life. And that is ultimately what made Miller a visionary storyteller. Topic of Cancer will always remain his best work through which he seamlessly blended th...more
Sabra Embury
Driving through Big Sur from San Francisco to LA, I stopped by the Henry Miller Memorial Library and bought The Colossus of Maroussi; it was recommended by the shop-keep as "Miller's favorite work written by himself." Tropic of Cancer was already in my pile of to-read, road-trip-reading material after recommendations for its "dense, sexual force." So I figured: Why not a phase? I need to know more about Miller, and the subversive style which has made him a legend.

Colussus of Maroussi had me run...more
Brandon
This is the only Henry Miller book I read that wouldn't be classified as pornography. Most of his books, nearly all autobiographical, contain detailed accounts of his many sexual escapades. Luckily, this one is different. His writing is beautiful. He mastered the non-fiction genre. At times, his thoughts soar through the heavens with truly enlightening spiritual insights. And at other times, he describes everyday events with true, vivid life. He's the master of real-life storytelling. When you r...more
Jordan
Hardly anyone I have ever met, unless they are a serious Henry Miller devotee or an avid reader of Greek travelogues, has heard of this book.

It's a wild ride, demonstrating both the liveliness of the author, but also how alive the Greece and Greeks he knew were. My memory of it has faded over the something like 30 years (!) since I read it, but I still have a strong impression of light, of dancing, of the castigation of Germans, Americans, and Britons in favor of a more alive southern European...more
Beth
I'm so disappointed. What a hunk of junk. I don't know what this book is supposed to be, but a travel book, it is not. This is more like some self-centered, old-fashioned guy's philosophical blathering about a trip to Greece he took ages ago -- except it's not even interesting, nor is it funny, and it doesn't make a lick of sense. He goes on and on for paragraphs and paragraphs with no seeming point, and doesn't have anything interesting to say. The best thing I can say about this book is that t...more
Ross Fattori
This rambling, discursive travelogue describes a brief holiday the author took to Greece in the months leading up to the Second World War.

Although much of The Colossus is imaginative, the object of Miller’s escapades is deeply rooted in Greece’s past. He visits Corfu, Crete, Corinth, Delphi, the Acropolis and other mythic places throughout the Greek Isles, and describes these hallowed grounds with humility and awe.

This is a wildly entertaining tale that belongs in the pantheon of great travel li...more
Salomé Jashi
Recommend to everyone interested in Greece. However, I was never into it, but this book is driving me to explore this country. Whatever Henry Miller describes in any book he has written, stirs me, motivates me, inspires me and makes me happy out of just reading him. Here's a paragraph from the beginning of the book:
'...'By God, yes, I like it,' I was saying to myself over and over as I stood at the rail taking in the movement and the hubbub. i leaned back and looked up at the sky. i had never s...more
Rupert Owen
Every time I pick up a Henry Miller book through-out my life it is like meeting up with an old buddy for a long stroll and a gabber. One of the few authors I know well enough to be able to have an internal dialogue with as I’m reading. Just like a conversation over time The Colossus of Maroussi is alive with contradictions and Miller’s flare for embellishing each moment, his literary company is indeed after a few minutes like being “embarked on an endless voyage comparable in feeling and traject...more
Christina
thus far i am unsure how i feel about this book. i have never read anything by Miller before except for "The Crucible", but that was in high school so it almost doesn't count.
It's nice to have the collective Greek ego stroked by non-greeks. after all, it's about time the rest of the world FINALLY realizes our greatness, understands our culture and matches beautiful words to the physical beauty of our landscape. some of the passages made me smile and made my heart fill with, um, pride? but,i mus...more
Susie
I can’t believe it took me so long to finish this book; I started it in July in preparation for our trip to Italy & Greece. I was just picking it up here and there in between reading other things. The only other book I had ever tried to read by Henry Miller was Tropic of Cancer, when I was in high school; I found it . . . turgid . . . impenetrable even. I’m sure I was just too young for it, but ever since have felt like I just don’t get HM. But this book was fascinating and especially engagi...more
Adam
Jul 28, 2008 Adam rated it 1 of 5 stars
Recommended to Adam by: Professor Ruf
Here I offer some of my insights on Miller's narrative based on what it contributes to the study or religious travel (not necessarily pilgrimage).


Anthropological research, when focused on studying other cultures, centered on the experiences of “fieldwork,” a task that led anthropologists to towns and villages in order to understand a “native” culture. (Clifford, 21-23) Despite these attempts, modern anthropologists have found flaws in this logic as a result of consistent interactions between gr...more
Chris
Jun 23, 2008 Chris added it
Shelves: loving-greece
In his gem of an campus novel, 'changing places' (a genre that he and malcolm 'history man' bradbury all but invented in the early 1970s), david lodge introduces us to the hilarious game of 'humiliation'. one thinks of a work that YOU haven't read but you reckon everyone else has, and you win points for everyone who has indeed read it. in 'changing places', visiting Brit literatus Philip Swallow introduces the game at a dinner given by the dean of the literature faculty. At first, an ambitious t...more
Matthew
May 12, 2008 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Travelers
Recommended to Matthew by: Grandma Harriet
The Colossus of Maroussi is a travelogue recounting the author's travels through Greece before leaving Europe at the outbreak of World War II. In it he attempts to capture the Greek soul, which he portrays as a noble yet defeated remnant of classical antiquity. He vividly describes the ruins and islands that he visits and delves deeply into how he is personally affected by these places. He also paints a loving portrait of his friends and drinking companions with whom he gallivants around the cou...more
Anthony
Not one of Miller's best, but the first authentic travel narrative that I've read of his (many more on the New Directions imprint). In his adventures around Greek, Miller elucidates what it means to be an American scornful of his country on the road in a land which he fails to understand (and even covers up his naive knowledge of Greek lore), but holds more love for. While this anti-Americanism is nothing new for him, in fact books like Tropic of Cancer and the Rosy Crucifixion Trilogy were rife...more
Laura  Yan
I have very mixed feelings about Henry Miller--some of his short form fiction and essays are brilliant, but when it comes to a rambling travelogue like this, I am less convinced. It is not so much a book about Greece as a book about Miller--and that's just dandy, Miller has a fascinating mind, a personality at once given to passion and judgment. His convictions are frantically, at times, beautifully written, but in other instances they simply become tiring, a never ending rampage and tribute to...more
Oakley
Miller's enthusiasm is really contagious. This book is a travel log of the author's time in Greece right before all hell broke loose in WWII. It's an amazing picture that he paints and might be the next best thing to actually going there. He doesn't really know much about Greece so it's more like a travel guide to life and how to live in a state of grace. Sometimes his cultural comparisons are over generalized and advice unrealistic, but I believe in the book's spirit.
Anja Weber
EXCELLENT BOOK FULL OF EMOTIONS, ARTISTIC OBSERVATION'S BUT WITH DEEP UNDERSTANDING FOR THE REAL NATURE OF GREECE AND HER HISTORICAL IN HERITAGE.Miller have it this so called deep sense for feeling of Saint places of Ancient's, to live under this impression like he has writed about ARGOS AND KING AGAMEMNON.HOW HE FELT THE REALITY OF PLACES WHERE IS LIGHT MIXED WITH HUMANS AND GOD'S..
EACH PAGE OF THIS BOOK IS MASTER'S DEPICTION OF ANCIENT GREECE..AS COULD BE..
Bret Constantino
"I give this record of my journey not as a contribution to human knowledge, because my knowledge is small and of little account, but as a contribution to human experience."

This literary account of Miller's trip to Greece in 1939 seethes with passion and profundity, standing up to some of his best work. Its a travel memoir complemented with nihilist philosophic rants and impressionable characters who breath right off the page.

Recommended for anyone who has any interest in Greek culture and of co...more
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The Colossus of Maroussi (Paperback)
The Colossus Of Maroussi (Paperback)
The Colossus Of Maroussi
The Colossus of Maroussi (ebook)
Il colosso di Marussi

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Henry Miller sought to reestablish the freedom to live without the conventional restraints of civilization. His books are potpourris of sexual description, quasi-philosophical speculation, reflection on literature and society, surrealistic imaginings, and autobiographical incident.

After living in Paris in the 1930s, he returned to the United States and settled in Big Sur, Calif. Miller's first tw...more
More about Henry Miller...
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“The best stories I have heard were pointless, the best books those whose plot I can never remember, the best individuals those whom I never get anywhere with. Though it has been practised on me time and again I never cease to marvel how it happens that with certain individuals whom I know, within a few minutes after greeting them we are embarked on an endless voyage comparable in feeling and trajectory only to the deep middle dream which the practised dreamer slips into like a bone slips into its sockets” 5 people liked it
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